Weekly Wisdoms #28

Life feels like it is going a mile a minute at the moment. I am not sure if it is because we are all so excited for our upcoming trip that we are trying to rush through each day or if we are actually a little busier. I suspect it is a bit of both.

Glimmers

(Glimmers are micro-moments of joy that make us feel happy, hopeful, and safe.)

• We leave for Cape Town next week. I didn’t want to buy too many groceries because we are only back towards the end of June, so I took inventory of what we had in the freezer and made a meal plan for the 2 weeks before we leave. It has made life so much easier. I didnt need to buy much and was able to use meals I had previously frozen. I need to do this more often.
• Kiara’s childhood friend who lived with us for a year, her final year of school, had her first baby this week. Poor kid was in labour for 2 days and eventually it ended with a c-section. I felt for her, its a tough process but she made it and has a little baby boy.
• Eve and I went to a local market on Wednesday. This is a pretty big market that happens a few times a year in different locations. I have been wanting to go for a few years, glad we finally just did it.
• Jack wants to start rock-climbing, so we are going to join when we are back from Cape Town in July. But I have managed to arrange a group get together as well at the rock climbing venue in our attempt to get Jack a few more friends.
• The pottery Emma and I did a few weeks ago was ready – isn’t it so gorgeous.
• I didn’t walk as much as I wanted to, largely because I wasn’t feeling great on my walking days and there was a lot going on.

My Weekly Wisdom..

During a chat with one of the vendors at the market we went to I was reminded of the power of telling your story.

While I was browsing a stand, the owner came up to me and we started chatting about the product (magnesium flakes for the bath). She flips the package over and says “This product is for Lilly”. I was about to do a mad dash out of there, because I was not ready to have a discussion about the loss of a child. But Lilly is still with us, she just motivated her mom to look for something to help with her chronic joint pain and sleep struggles.

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As this lady was telling me Lilly’s story I felt more connected to her – I mentioned Emma’s struggles and our ADHD journey – she had another daughter who was going through the same thing. More connecting.

Then we switched to talking about perimenopause and medication. Again we had a shared experience. More connecting.

Obviously I walked away with the product. It wasn’t because she made a reel a day or had a photo booth at her stand or had an optimized website or a Facebook page. It was her story!

The thing I realised was that it’s always been about the story.

When I started blogging 18 years ago, I shared my story. I was front and centre. I shared about my divorce, moving back home, dating as a single mom and my marriage. I shared unfiltered photos in bad light. My writing was bad. There was no plan, I would often just spew random thoughts about my day.

None of that would fly today but back then I built a following – a proper community. People were waiting for my posts, the commented, the shared and friendships were made. All because I was simply telling my story – unedited and possibly a little unhinged.

As the social media landscape changed I began working with brands. I started getting paid. Which was amazing, but my voice, my story started getting diluted until I was completely gone. I was no longer telling my story, I was complying with the rules of engagement (or trying to at least), I was sharing brand stories and writing according to a brief.

I stopped telling my story and in doing so lost a large part of my community and rightly so.

We can rage at the algorithm, blame updates and leave social media platforms but the truth is, many of us just stopped telling our stories our way.

My favourite clothing brand M&B does a phenomenal job of telling their story. The owners and their team are always front and centre. Yes, there videos have gotten better over time but they never stray far from their story.

The success of the Kolisi’s will always be a powerful marketing story. They became celebrities because they told their story honestly. They shared uncurated, real stories, I have always suspected this was all a very clever marketing plan, but even if it was they still executed it perfectly. I have met Rachel and she is the same online and off – which is not always the case.

The Bucket List family – another story telling success story. Before you come at me for this one, I will admit that now their brand is a lot more curated but they have still built an incredible community that has been with them for years.

I suppose what I am trying to do now is start telling my story again, my way with little to no regard of the algorithms or the posts telling me what and how to write. Because the story is where it all begins, it is the foundation of community.

Picture of the Week

I have decided to change this section up and add in my favourite photo of the week. A random log on my one walk of the week 🙂

Wise Words of the Week

Words of the Week

I am joining up with the Word of the Week link party this week so my word for the week would have to be APPRECIATION . We are starting 5 days of no-water due to maintenance. It once again, made me really appreciative of the fact that we have running water. It is something we take for granted often but it is such a privilege to have it. I am also very appreciative of my husband who went out to get me hot pads because my period cramps were so bad.

Until next week!